Wow…I Miss World Of Warcraft

by Ed Lau on August 17, 2007

I’m nine months clean and sober of the horrible, time-consuming and oh-so-awesome habit that is World of Warcraft but like any other former addicts, every time I get a whiff of that sweet, sweet Azerothian action (I sound like such a dirty, dirty nerd right now), I wish I was still playing. Especially when I hear about all the cool encounters they’ve added since I left late last year. As one of the few (apparently less than 2% of the almost 10 million that play the game) elite raiding players, I usually got to see content that most players don’t so it’s new territory for me, really. I mean, the game looks so much more badass than I remember. This is apparently one of the latest encounters where you fight three giant floating heads called The Essence of Anger, Desire and Suffering. The art design is superb. Here’s a screenshot of Nihilum (one of the world’s best raid guilds) doing the encounter and a video. Seriously, I’ve seen this encounter when my buddy was doing it with his group and these pictures don’t really do it justice.

I do think I miss my guild the most though. Only recently have I been in contact with them again. I don’t think playing would’ve been as much fun with a different bunch of people since our guild chat was some of the most profane and disgusting things I’ve ever read in my life. Most of it could be described with adjectives like debaucherous. I’d post some of our screenshots here but I think it would make children cry and small animals would be sure to explode.

Dude seen a lot of friends fucking up their life with this game, skipping school, work getting sick from not eating right and sleeping little.
Seriously how can people get so hooked? Good thing I do not like this type of games.

If you go back I assume the posting frequency will be much lower on this blog, and hmm I have experienced that the last 3 days, hey did you play it ?

There really isn’t much that seperates a casual guild and an “elite raiding guild”; not since TBC and especially not since they removed all attunement requirements for high end instances like Black Temple.

I quit playing 8 months ago (2 months after you posted this) I was co-GM of a guild that was very pro-casual and didn’t pressure anyone into raiding, as a result we had very little arguing and lots of free time which suited our older players with husbands, wives and families.

It didn’t always work to our advantage but we progressed nonetheless. When I quit we were happily downing bosses in Tempest Keep and Serpentshrine Cavern. Not too shabby for 10 months work from a guild that started on a brand new server on the release day of TBC with a bunch of level 1′s?

Today that guild has cleared Mount Hyjal and almost done in Black Temple… and they’re not pro or elite. In fact, some of them were downright useless but we did our best to teach them so they could experience end game content along with everyone else.

The old days where only the chosen few got to see the high-end content is well and truly over. Downsizing to 10-25 man raids means smaller guilds can be just as successful as logically fewer people means fewer mistakes. There will always be those one step ahead of the game like Nihilum, but at the end of the day there’s nothing they can do that the other 98% of us can’t do anymore.

It’s a good time to be a noobie and play WoW I think… still doesn’t mean I will ever go back, however.

i miss it too i was 12 when i started it wasnt to hooked lved slowly while having fun with some friends loved the pvp experiance and then during 13-14 i was hooked liked raids downing bosses but i quit my grades were slipping a bit but then quit im sober for about 7 months. My grades are back up but when i hear my friends with their wotlk and when i come to hang out with them sometimes i wish i could just play it again but i probably wont even though they keep telling me i should

im a world of warcraft adict and i cannot play because my computer broke. in fact im such an addict that while googling wow because i cannot play it i stumbled upon this website that i am now commenting on. yes wow is addicting but that is only due to the fact that it is the best mmorpg everrrrr!

I’ve been off WoW for the summer.. I miss it.. I said I’d go back next summer after a nice long break… but I really miss it too : /
btw pplz…. most people that play this are mainly bored. so… don’t blame them because it’s a great game

I didn’t play it during summer either (trieing to stop) and I misssss it SOOO much got damn it :’( It was so fun but I don’t dare go back as I fear for my grades (I’m a freshmen) so me sooo sad. But dude don’t go back to it try to find something else to do and if nothing comes up you can always try Warhammer XD

I’ve recently caught the bug. I’ve been quit for just over a year. This is from a 2100+ rated S3 warrior, and a top 100 guild working on Eredar Twins in Sunwell. Yes, I was very, very hooked and I was in an extremely awesome guild with an epic group of people.

I had played like 2 years, i deleted my account, because i played 7 hour every day..
now i’m going with friends have fun with them, but i really much miss to play it.. any idea to delete that memory in my head?

I was forced off of WoW due to losing a job and now living somewhere with a poor internet connection. I am NOT a recovering addict, I’m an addict who is being forcefully kept from his passion… I will return WoW, I WILL BE BACK!!!!

My wife made me choose between playing wow or getting a new bike, i picked the bike, though it was the right decision I miss playing wow terribly. I was in a great guild and I got to see most of the end game content. One thing that turns me off is that most guilds can now do the same. One of the things I enjoyed the most was being one of the few people in the game who got to explore the end game content, I liked being kind of elite and how people would gawk at my gear. Even though I would like to play again one day, maybe when I retire from working

@Stephen:
I MISS WOW sept 27 2009 was the last time i played my bf and i spent 3 whole days playin non stop or maybe more I MISS IT SOOOO MUCH im gonna play again and when i do IM GONNA RAID THE HELL OUT OF IT I MISS WOW my wonderful addiction my advice to EVERY1 who has never played GET ONLINE and start playin wow its awsome

Strange to be commenting on a post that’s almost 3 years old, but it touches a cord in all us addicts. I’m going to give you strange advice. Go back. Why? Because you loved the game for the right reasons, because you loved it for the friends you had. If anyone feels they are a WoW addict, simply ask yourself this one question…”Would I play this game if I was never allowed to talk to anyone in it, chat or Vent, ever again”. If you said yes, then quit, you are addicted to the GAME. If you said no, then you simply have formed bonds with other players that are as strong and as legitimate as any you have with people in the real world. Don’t let anyone tell you different. I spent 6 years with a single guild, a single group of friends. When I decided I was “addicted” I left, only to discover the life lesson I mentioned above. I miss my friends, and there was no reason for me to ever have left them. Put that’s past me now. The guild broke up and my friends are scattered or gone also. WoW is no different than the real world, you learn things about yourself through it.

Wow messed up my life big time, so i had to quit it.
I left it around 5 months ago & at the time i was an officer of a leading guild and one of the top ranked players for my class/spec on one of the best srvrs.

Actually i feel theres not much point at returning now since iv’e fallen too much back, but boy do i miss it.
Well maybe when the next exp comes & again maybe not.

I am now one month and six days sober. I quit for the fourth time because it began to effect my marriage. I had spent almost every moment of my free time over the last two years playing that game. Not only was my marriage effected but I am also two years behind on the progress of my carreer. I’ve never done drugs or anything like that. I’ve never been addicted to anything before. But I know I am feeling the withdrawls from this game. I think about it all the time. I feel like I don’t have as much fun anymore. I hate it. But the good thing about it is that I am finally doing better things with my time. I’ve signed up for more classes to better my carreer, got my files all in order, studied, learned how to play guitar better, and got that spark back with my wife. But in the back of my mind it still haunts me. I just hope that the cravings will go away.

WoW was the best game ever and the most addicting thing i have come accross in life.

7 months clean and every now and then i remember my time in the game and wish i was back. But i will never go back, i cant play it in moderation because i dont feel its a game that can be played in moderation.

If i had nothing to do in life, no goals, no family, no friends and no need for anything from life then i would definitely play this game! But its not real life and due to its addicting nature stay away!!!

yah, i’ve quit for a few months now. To make sure i didn’t return i deleted ALL my characters, but every time i hear an add for it on tv or hear someone say something about it, i start thinking about it again. Regardless, im glad i quit. The best way is to stay away from anything that reminds you of the game, and your desire to play it will go away in time. Good luck

i quit wow four months ago. miss it so much! even though i have tons of things to do in real life, I can not help thinking of it from time to time. I assume most addicts to wow are men but I am a girl. I don;t know if there are other girls out there feel the same. I just have to work very hard to resist the temptation. I used to have lvl 80 paladin tank and warlock. they are still in my account and I only suspended the account. Maybe I will play them one day again.

i used to play wow
and i really can’t stop thinking about play again
i used to play 11 hours a DAY
i leveled from 0 to 75 in 2 weeks
and from 75 to 80 with all the gears and every thing, other 2 weeks
1 month of playing
11h a day , that’s mean 330h a month
What should i do ?
i know that if i play again i’ll do 13h to 14h a day
and that’s even more

I started in 05 and quit in late 2007 when burning crusade was under way. I’m quite susceptible to addictions and during ’06 I was doing NOTHING but playing wow as many of you can probably relate..

I agree with Staryx, you learn heaps about yourself playing this game and meet really cool people. I realized my leadership qualities, and met people that I have still kept in touch with over the past few years through email. I remember when there used to be heaps of world PvP, I’d go patrol around with my 60 warrior (back in the day), help low levels with quests and help other people who were getting camped (as lame as it sounds), but I enjoyed helping people. I’m now applying that to real-life.

Not everyone can apply what they learnt about themselves in-game to real-life, but I think the game in a way is like a second-life. All the achievements you make, people you meet, places you go, levels you gain, bosses you kill, professions you master…you get the same satisfaction in-game, than you would if you were to achieve a payrise or a nicer house, or a bigger TV in real life. There’s something about WoW, the collective effort and teamwork, that I don’t see as much of in real life. I don’t want to come across as a pessimist, but WoW did seem easier and more enjoyable than real life for me at the time. I think it’s so easy to become addicted because for some people it’s a better life. And what I don’t like about all the WoW haters out there who claim it’s a waste of time, is they just see the game as mindless, but haven’t truly experienced it – what made the game for me was the people I met, chatted, laughed with, the quests and I completed collectively with others – it was a place of mutual acceptance and a place where you felt you were doing something important.

I’m personally not going to get back into it, because it’s lost it’s initial spark (for me anyway), which was the world PvP and when skill made a big difference over what gear you had (and how easy it was to get).

I think for a lot of hardcore players out there currently playing, I can ‘feel’ their addiction and can understand why. But for people out there who have already quit, I think you’ve made the right decision and I think it’s a good idea to stay off it. Think about why you quit in the first place? And remember, Blizzard will run out of ideas eventually, the game won’t go on forever…and even if it does for a long time, other games that emerge when it goes down may not give you the same feel – it’s important to have something to fall back on in real life. Keep playing games, but play in moderation, a few hours a day isn’t so bad, but do other things! Anyway, didn’t want to rant too much, but I hope someone will read this and make the right decision, or at least give it some more thought. At the end of the day though, it’s your life and no one will stop you from doing what you want to do. It’s all up to you . Take care people!

I was curious if there were others like me who quit and missed WoW, and I found this so I now will tell my tale, for it seems like it will help in some way.

Back in 8th grade (long ago since I “graduated” in nov 09′) me and my best friend were looking for fun games to play, we’d normally be the type to buy the top rated games that came out and play them, worship them, get bored and look for another again. We eventually started playing games on places like funorb.com and addicting games to pass idle time. On funorb, we encountered Runescape which then held an Ad on the side for WoW… We heard many things about it that it was the nerdiest thing in the world and swore to not play it…but eventually all the other games we played got boring and we downloaded a trial of WoW…

At first it was equally exciting and confusing, for it was our first MMO. I played a warrior because I wanted to be like a Knight sort of character, charging into the heat of battle. We quested together till our time was up, and we didn’t have jobs at the time so we just ditched it. When we got jobs we came back, and grouped up together and met new friends to quest with, we got into the lore and were fascinated by how big the worlds were and of all the level 80′s. It was so different when we first started… I don’t know how to explain it, but I’m sure a lot of you know what I mean. It was like we played to have fun and such… to cut the story a little shorter, I leveled a paladin to 80. In that time I dated an AMAZINGLY beautiful girl with such a fun loving and dazzling personality, she knew I always played WoW with my friend in my basement but didn’t care really. I could tell it eventually started to take effect because I’d hardly spend time with her, and when I did I’d just make out with her and watch movies with her (boring boyfriend much? :/) I eventually lost her…and to qwell that depression? I played more WoW, started leveling a horde rogue…in that time I dated another beautiful girl, lovely latin girl who was very passionate. Got the rogue to 60 and by that time her and I broke up, same reason. I wasn’t spending much time with her… During this time, it seemed the whole game had changed. From what I saw, people usually go two ways: The PvP way, or the Raiding PvE way…I chose the PvP way and damn did I get good, I discovered that I was playing my warrior the wrong way before, I had no key bindings, no macros, I didn’t know how to manage rage, how to use my abilities properly. All that started to become the biggest deal, I’d sit infront of Orgg, or in Goldshire bouncing around dueling people, destroying them and laughing at their gear and talents and the spells they used. Looking back, I can’t beleive what this game had changed me into when I played it. I didn’t play to have fun, I played to win. Problem was, you can’t win at WoW, it never ends. Eventually I just quit…(for the 6th time). My friend left and my guild disbanded. Also, all my friends who I keep in touch with from that guild have quit WoW. So I see no purpose in going back….

Besides, all I ever did was keep re-rolling to find the best PvP class. Which there never be a BEST. Blizzard will buff one class for a bit then nerf it… back and forth. Now, I’ve gotten to be best friends with my brother (who I completely ignored while being addicted to WoW), and we go out with friends everyday. I’ve got a new girlfriend, I’m getting more hours at work and making more money. Things are looking good, and so I don’t think I’ll be going back to WoW anytime soon, and if I do, my friends will be there to intervene. It seems though, that I’m still stuck on a WoW sleep schedule…you see it’s 5:09 AM and I’m still awake. INstead of playing Wow all night, I just watch horror movies and manage my Ebay business. o.O *sigh* haha sorry to bore you all with my story just thought I’d share! Cheers everyone.

I got the same problem. I got the trial in like… ’07, loved it, Bought Burning crusade, loved it. It sort of faded, and I took a long break until Lich King, when I had a relapse, got the death knight with which I got to 60 or 61. I think my account got deleted, since I can’t log into my old account. Not ten minutes ago, I found an old guide to it I had and couldn’t stop thinking about it. I’m freaking out because I just want to play it once more. I absolutley CRAVE it right now. I am in a RAMPAGE trying to remember my account info.

yea even i miss WoW i quit to play Aion
i only played it for 1 day then deleted it from my computer
WoW was also ruining my education it was turning me more stupid
i loved it so much i played it 24 hours a day
and the next day i fall asleep in school
now im glad ive quit WoW

even though sometimes i can remeber the mounts and the raids
i miss wow so much now

I think some of you guys should really stop playing the game but whoever says WoW is a waste of time is completely mistaken. I have met so many great people in this game and have gotten a great amount of contacts who have gotten me great job opportunities in the real world. I now have an awesome job thanks to a”friend” who I met through world of warcraft. WoW is just like real life, people with addictive issues will always have those issues, they replace addictions with other addictions so WoW is not the issue its the people that play it. At least thank Blizzard that you arent addicted to online poker or cocaine.

i’m in the same boat. i love WoW…seriously i do. my friends on it and i also love the fact that when i have a bad day i could always get on WoW and talk to my friends and go have fun and get my mind off things. I’m studying to become a nurse in college, the program is tuff and i know that playing wow again will effect my grades. i may say in my mind that it won’t but that is just an excuse to try and get to playing it again. i was doing nothing but plaything that game…all the time! and i know it sounds weird, but i was happy with it being that way. it’s not healthy and it really started to effect my relationship with my boyfriend (i’m a girl) he has noticed me looking at the website recently and watching youtube video’s on wow and he said that if i wanted to play it again go ahead, but don’t get addicted again. that’s the problem…i don’t have to get addicted again…i’m still addicted. I loved the game, the areas in the game, the world and most of all my toons. going back would be the worst idea in the world for me right now, unless i could learn to control my play time. *sigh* i don’t know. all i know is that i miss it, and my friends on wow. I’m in the same boat as most of you…..the “i really want to play again without letting it run my life” boat. i guess we’ll all just have to work through it some how and learn to cope….or learn to control it. one of the two.

My brothers got WoW for Christmas in ’05. They made me a character just for fun (my gaming experience previously consisting of the Sims), but I became hooked. We all played, but somehow I got into the better guild (let’s be honest, it was probably because I have lady parts) and stuck with it long after they had moved on to other things. In high school, hanging out on vent and shooting the shit seemed like more fun than going to the park or out on a date. I blew off all sorts of things to play WoW. I quit when I started college in ’07 but continued to play whenever I was home on break. I tried to quit before BC but, alas, no dice. I finally cut the cord before they launched WOTLK.

2 years later, I still miss it. It was just so…fun. Staying up to finish papers has nothing on WSG weekend. I find myself reading my realm forum from time to time like it’s some sort of nicotine patch. I have no idea if the same people I played with even still play. Since I quit, nothing in real life has gotten me as jazzed and excited as I used to be about downing a new boss or getting something shiny and purple. Being well-adjusted and WoW-free is…boring.

hi im a 24 year old dude,
i played WoW for like 4 years non stop.
At college i kept thining about quests im still working on,
So i missed the lessons.
i even skipped school somthimes, my grades where suckyish
i quit 5 months ago. I’m really sick just i missing WoW
in juli i gonna play WoW again when school is over.

WoW is addicting because it provides you with a sense of achievement that most people have difficulty finding in the real world. You like it and become addicted to it because it basically makes you feel good. Unfortunately, Blizz knows this, so they keep you hooked by removing your sense of completion with new content.

“Look at my awesome armor and 1337 guild, I am better than you scrubs! I am one of the best pallies on muh sever! Wait… new xpac/raid encounter/faction… Time to re-grind gear and rep.”

I haven’t played for a month now and I hope I’m over the worst of the withdraw. Stay away, wow eats your life.

I miss warcraft , but i got back to real life , with wow no life so realy you need to stop playing and do some thing better in your life , you got only one life so dont waste it in warcraft or other games.

To people wondering how this game is addicting… I was a person who vehemently hated games like World of Warcraft. I loved shooters, action-adventures, stealth espionage — mostly console gaming.

I remember the first time I played World of Warcraft, my brother and his friend were going to try it out because they played EQ as kids. First night I played it I thought it was the most ridiculous thing ever. The next morning I woke up and found myself playing.

Almost five years later and nearly $1,000 invested into the game, I finally gave it up.

Not sure what it was about the game — but it was, and still is, addicting. I know exactly what this 4 year old post is referring to by the “whiff of that sweet, sweet Azerothian action.” The early memories of your first 5-mans, and then raids. Getting withdrawals just thinking about it.

I’m on my 4th time quitting World of Warcraft. This time around I’m trying to stay away from in for at least more than 6 months. Its been since the beginning of January when I had to get rid of the internet and sale my WoW account just to have enough money to pay rent.
I’m not a console gamer anymore (I only have a PC). I keep trying to find “good-enough” games to fill that “hole” that is world of warcraft, but I’m extremely bored.
Month after month goes by, I still can’t afford the game, and I’m still telling my wife its the best game I’ve ever played.

Man it feels like yesterday — lost in Undercity. Seeing my first lvl 40 mount. Finding a purple world drop…

I miss it right now.. soo badly. Everything is great in WoW. I don’t have to deal with any of the problems in real life. I don’t have to face any of my fears. I just have to work hard, over and over — and my character turns into a super star.

Such a pity — I wasted 4 good years of my mid-20s on this game.. running from my real life. I pay for that lost time everyday. I never want to go back.

I remeber at the end of every 8-12-16 hour session.. the feeling of utter disgust. I would go to sleep, looking at items and message boards… doing everything possible to ignore my real life that was being severely neglected.

I feel such shame — when I think about the gifts I’ve squandered. The wonderful opportunities that my grandparents and parents gave me. I could have done anything and I chose to hide. It was an easy choice to make. Its even easier to make that same choice tomorrow … and the next day… pretty soon, its been months or years.

I have some great friends from WoW.. I really do. But somehow, I think my life would be much better off if I just never bought the damn game.

Well — thats it. Just had to get this off my chest. Its Autumn..I always get the craving when the leaves start to turn….

im sober for 3 months after playing nonstop for 5 years. my career is on the rise and im freelancing musician so i wanted less time wasted in my life. i cant wait when im 80 and retired, then i will play the fuck out this game and die in front of a screen…

I miss this game too. This is the 2nd time I’ve quit, which I did just recently. I need more time for other things (job hunting, health reasons). Its an AWESOME game. Mjollnir is right, positive reinforcement is why this game is addictive. Its very well-designed. They have to make it good that people will keep paying the $15/month. They have 2000 employees to support. That’s their job. Its like any business.

Culture makes Wow players feel ashamed of the fact that they play Wow. Why? Its just another game like any other game. If you spent money and time on this game, its OK. People spend money and time on their hobbies or other things when they enjoy it and that’s fine. But if you get too involved and let your life suffer, and you postpone things you should be doing first, that’s obviously a problem.

Oh yea I miss the game a lot. I’m trying to sell my account so I’ll get rid of my character and get some money. Maybe when the Panda expansion comes out I’ll start the game again with another character, who knows.

Have control over your life. You have limited amounts of time available to you. How you spend it is up to you. You have the right to have fun but make sure other things don’t suffer. If you got tonnes of time and have nothing to do, then by all means, be a serious Wow player. If not, you can be a light or moderate player and still enjoy the game. Play at your own pace. But yea, for now, I gotta stop it. I cant do it.

I would play for hours and hours and hours every day. I was so addicted. I never got to lvl 90 because I was so inspired by all the graphics and meeting new people. Screw high levels. Had my lvl 88 Belf DK. I asked my mom a year ago “Mom are you not worried that I play to much? ” She said ” I would rather have you playing a game all day then doing drugs.” BOOM. There’s my theory. Shutup about being addicted to wow. When you’re a 16 year old girl like me it’s an amazing thing to be addicted to video games rather then drugs and sex and alcohol.

I still miss WoW. i stopped playing shortly after burning crusade came out. i mostly stopped playing because i realized how much RL stuff i’ve been missing. i still really miss my guild-mates though. but now i’m married to someone that has no understanding as to what gaming actually requires and i also have two, very young kids now… i just content myself with the fact that when i’m prolly a grandma, i’ll be spanking the newbs just as badly as i was before! =P